This application claims the priority of International Application No. PCT/DE2006/001116, filed Jun. 29, 2006, and German Patent Document No. 10 2005 031 804.5, filed Jul. 7, 2005, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
This invention relates to a lubricant system. The invention further relates to an assembly that carries a fluid, in particular a lubricant.
Lubricant systems of the prior art and in practice to supply a user with lubricant include, in addition to a lubricant reservoir, at least one lubricant pump for the extraction of the lubricant from the lubricant reservoir and for the transport of the lubricant toward the user and at least one lubricant pump for the return of the lubricant from the user into the lubricant reservoir. A static lubricant separator is normally integrated into the lubricant tank to separate the air from the lubricant in the mixture of lubricant and air that is returned to the lubricant reservoir and to remove the air from the lubricant reservoir. The air to be removed from the lubricant reservoir and the exhaust air from the user are conventionally conducted to a rotating lubricant separator, whereby the air separated by the rotating lubricant separator is removed from the lubricant system via an overboard vent line. In addition to the lubricant reservoir, the lubricant pumps and the lubricant separators comprise lubricant systems of the prior art to supply lubricant to a user, as well as lubricant filters and lubricant coolers which are connected between the lubricant reservoir and to the user.
On lubricant systems that are used, for example, to supply lubricant to a user in a gas turbine aircraft engine, it is important that the lubricant supply be maintained even under extreme flight conditions. This is problematic, in particular during extreme aerial maneuvers such as upside-down flight, parabolic flight in zero gravity or with a negative acceleration vector, as well as extreme ascents and extreme descents. To maintain the lubricant feed in these cases, such lubricant systems conventionally use a lubricant reservoir in which the lubricant is set in rotation by the rotation of at least one drum that is integrated into the lubricant reservoir or by the rotation of at least one blade that is integrated into the lubricant reservoir. During such a rotation, the lubricant, on account of centrifugal forces, comes into contact with a rotationally symmetrical wall of the lubricant reservoir, from where it can be transported toward the user.
In this manner, air is centrifuged out of the lubricant and collected in the center of the lubricant reservoir, from where the air centrifuged out can be removed from the lubricant reservoir. In this case, a static oil separator integrated into the lubricant reservoir can be omitted. Lubricant systems with a lubricant reservoir of this type are described, for example, in German Patent Document No. DE 30 50 765 C2 and in DE 34 05 366 C2.
On lubricant systems of this type it is modern practice to realize the lubricant reservoir, the rotating oil separator and a pump unit with the lubricant pumps in the form of separate assemblies or components and to drive these assemblies via separate drive systems. For this purpose, the lubricant reservoir, the lubricant pumps and the rotating lubricant separators are mounted on separate shafts, whereby a separate drive is associated with each of these separate shafts. The result is a complex construction for a lubricant system, whereby additional numerous external oil lines are required for the connection of the lubricant reservoir, rotating lubricant separators and lubricant pumps.
Against this background, the problem addressed by this invention is to create a novel lubricant system as well as a novel assembly that carries fluid, in particular lubricant.
The invention teaches that the rotating lubricant separator or each rotating lubricant separator can be driven by the drive system of the or each rotatable drum or of the or each rotatable blade of the lubricant reservoir.
This invention teaches that at least the or each rotating lubricant separator is driven by the drive system of the lubricant reservoir. For this purpose the or each rotating lubricant separator and the elements of the lubricant tank that are driven in rotation, namely the drum or each drum and/or the blade or each blade, are mounted on a common shaft and can be driven from the common drive, optionally with the interposition of a transmission. Consequently, a significantly simpler and more compact construction of a lubricant system can be realized, which maintains a lubricant supply to a user even under extreme operating conditions.
This invention teaches that a plurality of components of the lubricant system are combined into a single assembly, whereby in an aircraft engine this assembly can be realized in the form of a Line Replaceable Unit (LRU), to thereby guarantee easy maintenance and repair of a lubricant system.
In one advantageous development of the invention, at least one lubricant pump for the extraction of the lubricant from the lubricant reservoir and for the transport of the lubricant toward the user can be driven by the drive system of the or each rotatable drum or by the or each rotatable blade of the lubricant reservoir.
In a further advantageous development of the invention, at least one lubricant pump for the return of the lubricant into the lubricant reservoir can be driven by the drive system of the or each rotatable drum or of the or each rotatable blade of the lubricant reservoir.
Preferably the or each rotating lubricant separator and the or each lubricant pump for the extraction of the lubricant from the lubricant reservoir and the or each lubricant pump for the return of the lubricant into the lubricant tank as well as the or each rotatable drum or the or each rotatable blade can be mounted on a common shaft and can be driven by the shaft either directly or indirectly with the interposition of a transmission.
Preferred developments of the invention are described in the following description. Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, although the invention is by no means limited to the specific exemplary embodiments illustrated.